RATHMORE

RATHMORE, a parish, partly in the barony of SOUTH SALT, partly in that of SOUTH NAAS, but chiefly in that of NORTH NAAS, county of KILDARE, and province of LEINSTER, 4 miles (E.) from Naas, on the road from Dublin to Ballymore-Eustace; containing 1473 inhabitants. This parish, the name of which signifies the "Great Rath," comprises 7656 statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act, all arable and pasture.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, united by act of council, in 1833, to the vicarage of Kilteel, and in the patronage of the Archbishop; the rectory is impropriate in Colonel L. Allen.

The tithes amount to £336. 9. 5 ½., of which £97. 13. 6 ½. is payable to the impropriator, and £238. 15. 10. to the vicar. The glebe-house was built by aid of a loan of £200 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1821; the glebe comprises 12 acres. The church is a small plain structure, with a square tower, erected by aid of a grant of £450, in 1766, from the same Board, which also granted for it, in 1824, £375, as a gift: it has lately been repaired by a grant of £187 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

In the R. C. divisions the parish is in the union or district of Blessington, in which are two chapels. In a school under the trustees of Erasmus Smith's charity, and another supported by private subscriptions, about 100 children are educated: there is also a private school, in which are about 40 children. Near the church is a large rath.

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